• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 8, 2005

By the end of last year, high-speed Web access in the United States jumped 34 percent to 37.9 million lines for all U.S. businesses and households--up from 28.2 million in 2003, according to a report released Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC also reported that growth in high-speed access accelerated toward the end of the year. The number of lines providing access at 200 kpbs or more in one direction grew by 17 percent in the latter six months of last year, compared to 15 percent in the first six months.

Most of the connections were via cable-modems, which accounted for 21.4 million high-speed lines; DLS service was responsible for 13.8 million of the lines.

In May, Jupiter Research reported that 31.9 million U.S. households now have cable--a 34 percent year-over-year growth from 2003. Jupiter also found that cable providers account for 63 percent of the market, while DSL providers were responsible for 35 percent.

PricewaterhouseCoopers also recently released a report predicting that broadband will surpass dial-up within five years. "Internet advertising will grow rapidly, fueled by an expanding broadband subscriber base and ad formats geared to broadband, such as keyword search and full-motion video," stated the report.